It's Okay
by MistyDeath
Summary: The vacant, cold blue stare Roxas was sporting was probably similar to his own – bloodshot and barely open, weighed down by heavy bags. Sure, Axel could hear the rain, he could smell it too, but really, he wasn't sure how they made it home. [Repost of a 8/13 story from Tumblr]


Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters - they belong to Square Eenix, Disney, etc.

* * *

**It's Okay**

Blip. _Swish_.

Blip. Blip. Blip. _Swish_.

Blip-blip-blip-blip-blip…._Swish_.

"…_she was so energetic, you know? Didn't really seem one to ever…want to…die intentionally."_

"_I wonder what her family thinks – do you reckon they blame her friends for not noticing – let wondering alone how they couldn't have known?"_

"_Sometimes you just…have to let go of the things you want the most, y'know? If you don't you won't feel right for the rest of your life."_

"_Hey, she was a smart kid. She got into HBU with you two and easily would've kicked both of your educational asses to the curb."_

"_Go home, rest. Mourn, do whatever you want. Just know we're here for you, alright?"_

The vacant, cold blue stare Roxas was sporting was probably similar to his own – bloodshot and barely open, weighed down by heavy bags. Sure, Axel could hear the rain, he could smell it too, but really, he wasn't sure how they made it home. For the life of him, he couldn't remember being able to see past the rain's blurry impression on his car window. He was, however, certain they both needed sleep, comfort and some serious time to recover from this week's past events.

_At the moment, Axel was ready to pummel the shit out of Roxas – the little shit had just taken him down in a gruesome display of carnage in Street Fighter – and he wasn't about to let the blonde go._

"_Oh my god – let it go! I won, I always win, and you always lose! Deal with it," laughed Roxas, dodging a swift smack to the back of the head. He rolled over onto his side and kicked out at Axel's attempted pounce, smirking when he heard the satisfying "oof" from his best friend._

_The redhead had groaned, clutching his abdomen, and rolling over to face Roxas. "You're…an asshole! You could've just let me fucking win one thing for some manly pride, but nooo, gotta be perfect Roxas." He opened his eyes and smirked, laughing along with Roxas when he was shot a "are you for real?" look._

_Then the blonde's phone started to ring and he pulled it out. Xion! Finally, he hadn't heard from her in days!_

"_Hey! Xion – where the hell have you been? You've been missing out on some serious ass whooping!"_

"…_hello Roxas." He frowned, oh crap, her mother?_

"_Oh, hi ma'am. Sorry about that," he laughed, shooting Axel a glare after he laughed at the comment, "What's going on?"_

"…_I'm not sure how to say this, Roxas…" she was cut off – choking on a held in sob, "but…Xion…she's dead."_

_Roxas had frozen, face full of fear and confusion, holding the phone next to his head. Axel had scooted over, mouthed "What's going on?" and the blonde had pressed speaker._

"…_Roxas? Roxas are you there? Honey?" Axel had replied, "…he's here, Mrs. Acer, right next to me. What happened? What'd you say?"_

"_Oh, oh Axel….Xion's dead. She…I…I'm so sorry boys, I-hic-can't really think about this right now, I'll have to call again later." The line had clicked silent, and Axel was left wide-eyed, staring at his closest friend who had turned to stone. The next time one of them spoke, maybe an hour had gone by – maybe two, they had both just frozen, lost in thought - both voices were cracked, and raw with a certain tightness that strained to break free._

"…_Roxas, what was the last thing we did with Xi?" The redhead's voice was definitely worse for wear, and he awkwardly licked his lips – pulled away with the salty taste of tears he didn't realize were flowing down his face._

_Roxas looked up – god his eyes were gone, already bloodshot from trying to hold the tears in – and bit his lip, frowning. "…We…we had that movie night the other day…and, and we had all that junk food before passing out at her house." His voice was giving way – any second now._

_Axel had smiled a trembling grin and wiped at his own face before laughing. "Yeah, that…that was a fun night. Good times, yeah?" The blonde had nodded, and the next second Axel knew he was thrown to the ground with his friend's face buried in his chest – sobbing._

_He certainly wasn't used to this, Roxas usually handled his perils silently. Axel figured it had all built up, but then again, it wasn't every day that one of only two best friends you've known all your life up and dies. As that grim though passed through his head, the redhead broke, crushing Roxas close to him and silently crying into the blonde's hair, gritting his teeth and trying to make sense of it._

'_I'll never let you go, don't you dare fucking leave me now.'_

_The next few days had been rough – one consisting of staying disturbingly silent and worrying their parents into thinking they each needed a psychiatrist; the next two they had spent being together – visiting old haunts and dangerous areas where they had played together as kids – but none were as bad as when they had met up with Xion's parents._

_The three of them had been a trio for as long as anyone could remember, and all their parents considered them part of each other's families. So painstakingly watching the Acers struggles through funeral arrangements and asking them for keepsakes or other things to put with her was pure torture, but it was necessary. Axel had made Xion's favorite cake and forced everyone to eat it, regardless of the fact that the girl had had the taste buds of a crack addict and afterwards everyone was certain they'd keel over from diabetes. Roxas had helped them out with getting invites and mementos out to family and friends, personalizing the cards with one of her art pieces._

_However, outside of that one moment where the two had broken down, Axel and Roxas hadn't really talked about the death. It was amazing; really, for once Axel had backed down and wouldn't make any smart-alecky comments to Roxas. He'd just stayed there, close at hand – just in case – but otherwise knew his boundaries and his own emotional stability were first._

Now, that the two were going back home from the funeral, the redhead realized they really hadn't said much. Sure, during the funeral they'd put on a little speech which had made everyone cry, jealous and in awe of just how amazingly close the three had been, but to him it had felt fake. The entire situation had felt fake after the first day. Hell, as of right now, Axel was pretty sure neither of them knew what really did Xion in. It made it feel as if it wasn't real – as if this was all some horrible nightmare he'd wake up from.

Blip. Blip. Blip. Blip._ Swish._

"Hey, Roxas." Out of the corner of his eye he saw the blond in question look over. Still no response, though.

"Do you wanna stay over at my house tonight, not just have dinner or whatever?" Roxas had shifted in his seat now, less slumped over and more like a tired relaxation stance. "…Yeah. Yeah, sure. Not like I'm gonna get any peace with family. How the hell did you manage to make them let you take me?"

"Something along the lines of "Axel's face is really making me think he's going to drop dead and he needs Roxas to stand him up" from your brother. Not exactly the best choice of words, but he's perceptive and persuasive when need be." The rain was really just coming down in sheets, and Axel hoped the bridge over to Twilight Town wasn't flooded; otherwise the two of them were in for a rough night.

"Huh. Remind me to – hic – thank him later," mumbled the blonde. "Hey, hey none of that here – the damn sky's throwing enough water in to my line of vision – I don't need you to cry and start making me cry again, okay?" Roxas had nodded quickly, wiping a hand at his eyes and using his dress shirt as a makeshift handkerchief.

The rest of the ride over to Axel's grandmother's house was silent, save for the occasional sniffle from either of them. When they had gotten in, soaked from the walk over from the parking lot, the tearful hug and murmurings of comfort from his grandmother was enough to reduce them to stone again.

"I am so sorry I couldn't make it honey – I am so sorry!" Another pair of tired, post-crying eyes were added to the mix. Axel could hear his heart break again.

"Gram…it's okay, really. Xi would've probably scolded you for even attempting to go to the funeral with your condition. Seriously, you know she would've." At that, his grandmother had scowled, the hobbled off, coughing, going to make hot cocoa for them. Roxas managed a small, warbly smile, then shook his head.

"Some things never change, huh..?" There was the choked voice again, and Axel nodded his head, patting Roxas on the back.

He shoved Roxas upstairs towards their TV/guest room and followed him into the small living area. Many a movie had been watched here late at night, remotes and controllers thrown, threatening to break the damned vase his grandmother thought was a nice touch for guests. The redhead plopped down in his usual spot on the couch-bed, the center, while Roxas flopped down onto his right. Axel had almost fallen asleep, arms sprawled out and half leaning onto Roxas, when he'd spoken.

"How's it feel?" He opened one green eye with a questioning look. "Knowing that you're not 'squished between our two fat asses because you're a skinny bastard' anymore?" The blonde was giving that blank stare towards the ceiling now.

Axel gave it a second, not any more lest he really burst out into fucking tears again, and slowly slipped down over into the left side.

"…there's more space…but it's cold…" he murmured, eyes closed, into the couch cushion. They stayed that way for a little bit, Roxas looking at Axel's uncomfortable position with sad but affectionate eyes, while Axel started to lose feeling in his arm trapped under his stomach. Axel then decided that he'd flip over and stretched out, throwing his long legs over Roxas while trying to get comfortable in the almost Xion-shaped head cushion.

Roxas stared at the obtrusive legs, specifically the one that was threatening to knee him in the balls. "What're you doing?" Axel half shrugged, already half asleep from exhaustion.

"…Dunno. It's comfortable and I'm tired, Rox…really tired." Axel probably fell asleep right then, leaving Roxas confused, still quite depressed, and trapped between his legs and the couch. But Roxas really didn't have the heart to move him off – he knew the exhaustion, knew the pain…maybe it would be better to fall asleep right now.

So the blond scooted himself up some, and then poked Axel, just a little. "Ax, Ax. I know – I know you're tired but hey, just…get off the couch for a second and I'll pull out the bed, kay?" He had to poke him in the eye to really get him to open an eye – bloodshot and now pissed off. "What the fuck do you-"

"Let me get out the bed, just get off for like five seconds and we'll be fine." Axel seemed to think for a few seconds, and then jumped up so fast that he got dizzy. His head hurt, a lot- fuck he hated crying forever.

Roxas had quickly pulled out the whole bed, and then kicked his shoes and socks off. He clambered over to the further side of the bed and laid down on his side, burying his face deeply into the mattress. Axel, in his now semi-awake phase, grabbed the pillows from under the bed and threw one unceremoniously at his friend. "Oof – asshole" was muttered towards him.

Axel got in after him, and promptly sprawled himself out after burying his own face into his pillow. The blond had situated himself with his pillow just before Axel's arm had plopped next to his, and now was just watching. Roxas watched him stare at nothing for a bit, then when his eyes finally gave way to sleep, he groped around for his hand, and gave it a squeeze.

"Hey."

"…What." Axel growled, anger still present, though Roxas knew it wasn't directed at anything in particular.

"It's going to be okay…" He never heard Axel's response, or if he even got the message across. His body gave way to sleep, and he passed out, hand still reassuringly wrapped around Axel's bigger one.

They didn't realize that when Axel's grandmother came up, hot cocoa steaming and ready, that she burst into silent tears at the sight.

When Roxas woke up, somewhere around 3am, he was met face first with Axel's chest and bright red hair tickling his nose. Then he noticed that there was the usual comforter wrapped around them, and underneath Axel's arm had wormed its way over his body. That, and he was extremely hot; uncomfortably so. The blonde wriggled a bit, shoving Axel's arm off of him and pulling down the comforter.

His face was met with cold, relaxing air and darkness. If even the streetlights were out, yeah, it was late. Touching his face, Roxas realized it was also extremely warm to the touch, dry, and if he could lick his own face, probably salty. He sighed.

"…it's a bit early to be up, isn't it?" And nearly shot out of his skin when Axel asked that from under the comforter. "What the fuck, Axel! Don't do that!" He heard a deep chuckle, still raspy from yesterday, and then Axel shoved himself up and out of the comforter.

Roxas shifted to somewhat sitting up against the pillow so he could see Axel a little. Or at least his silhouette. "Know what time it is?"

"Nope, no idea."

"D'you know how we got this comforter out? Because I don't remember doing it." Roxas looked around, and then spotted mugs. He sighed.

"Judging by the hot cocoa mugs on the mantle over there, I'm guessing your grandma did that…" "Huh." The redhead stretched, and shook his head around, hitting Roxas in the face several times, the bitch.

"Hey, hey Sir spikes-a-lot, quit it," he laughed. Axel snorted, and then purposefully brought his head down to where he could make out Roxas' face and shook it everywhere. "Aargh! Quit it you dick! I'm serious, I'll-" and he yanked a long strand, receiving a hiss of pain.

"Serves you right." Axel shifted around some, and then kicked off the comforter completely. "Fuck that was hot. Sweating like a dog under there." He got up and went to click on the room lamp, blinding both of them for a few seconds.

By the time Axel had safely made it over to the couch-bed again, Roxas was once again hit with the reality of just how shitty they must look. Axel's eyes weren't as bloodshot, but the bags on his eyes were still huge, and his messed up hair didn't help matters. Nor did the fact that they had both fallen asleep in their suits…ah fuck.

"Fuck, this is a rental, my parents are going to kill me," he groaned, shrugging himself out of the jacket, then shucking off the pants until he was left in his dress shirt and boxers. When Axel had burst out laughing at the sight of Roxas attempting to de-wrinkle the pants and lay out the jacket, Roxas stopped. "What?"

He continued laughing, and now Roxas was confused, and somewhat concerned. What if he woke up his grandmother?

"No, seriously what?" He got up and smacked Axel on the shoulder. "…ah….ahahaha…can't…believe…"

Roxas resorted to kicking him in the leg. "Ow! Okay, okay. Sorry, just can't believe you're worried over a fucking suit when our best friend just up and died out of nowhere under a week ago," he chuckled dryly. Then ruffled the blonde's hair. "I guess that means either you're extremely weird or you're going to be okay, and not be the one that drowns in his own suffering."

The blond stilled in his motion to kill Axel, and let his arms flop like spaghetti to his sides. "…You're right. What the hell am I – actually you know what, never mind. My parents can deal with it. How the fuck did I manage to fall asleep in that – how the hell did you? It's like it's made out of hay or something else pointy…"

Axel raised an eyebrow at the sudden rambling coming from his friend beside him. "Rox."

"And it's like we haven't even really discussed anything with our parents, like what the hell do we do now – do we just toughen up or do we –"

"Roxas!"

The blond looked up. "What?" "Shut the fuck up and take a chill pill, alright? We've been stressed out enough, especially after yesterday. Just…you're the one that said it's going to be okay, remember?"

He received a dazed look. "Remember?" Axel grabbed his hand, shaking it in front of the blonde's eyes, "'It's going to be okay?'" He nodded. "…yeah. Yeah I do…sorry."

"No problem, now…we should probably go back to sleep before another one of your panic attacks wakes Gram up," he mused. Roxas wasn't really tired, but he didn't feel like going out anywhere, either. "Are you really tired, Ax?"

The taller teen led him back onto the bed and laid down, one arm behind his head, the other still grasping Roxas' hand. "Not really, but I'm in a seriously lazy mood. How about you?"

"Same…might as well just wait for the rest of the world to wake up." He laid his head down on the pillow and just stared off, somewhere. Then he could feel his hand sweating. "Axel, your hand…"

The warmth left, leaving a rather cool sweat in its place. "Oh, sorry about that. Kind of…hm."

"Yeah, whatever. Thanks, y'know. For calming me down." Axel made a noise of agreement. "Yeah, I'll always be there to bring you back. I got you."

Roxas smiled for the first time in what felt like forever, when it was really only a few days. "Yeah…Xi would kick your ass if you didn't."

Axel snorted, smiling somewhat. "Yeah, yeah she would." They left the conversation at that, letting a comfortable silence fill the room until dawn broke through the skies. Roxas squinted a bit, hand covering his eyes before rolling to his side again. He poked Axel.

"Hey, how many sunsets do you think we've watched together?" The redhead pulled a mock-pensive face, exaggerated finger tapping at his head. "Gee, I dunno, Roxas…how many years have we known each other? Multiply that by almost 365 days a year and that's how many." He chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. That's our thing right?"

"Mmmm…haven't watched too many sunrises in comparison, now, have we?"

"You mean sunrises that didn't spell our imminent doom or pain at the hand of hangovers and parents?" Another dry chuckle. "Yeah."

Axel leaned on his elbow, turning to face Roxas again, hair now comically plastered to his head that made even his regular hair seem groomed. Then he grabbed the blonde's hand again, caressing it before bringing it to his lips, "But, mon cheri, I have never, ever, woken up with such a beautiful woman such as yourself."

Roxas smacked him in the face, then rolled up and off the bed, grumbling. "Beautiful woman, my ass…" The blonde was acutely aware of all the mocking gestures Axel was making as he tiptoed around the room, groping under the bed for his shoes and socks. He got his own revenge and tossed a sock into the redhead's face.

The older teen grunted at impact and now spent the time Roxas was tying his shoes on scowling. "Why're you getting all dressed in such a hurry?"

"We've been up for three hours, sitting around in the dark thinking about things I don't ever want to think about again. I'm starving, I wanna go get something to eat." Their stomachs growled in rumbled their agreement. Axel shot his stomach a look, then turned to Roxas, who was standing now, still in the crumpled white shirt and fancy dress pants, hands on his hips and waiting.

"…So?"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't know what fucking place is gonna be open now, though."

Roxas suspected that the two of them quite resembled a pair of bachelors coming from a strip joint at six in the morning after a night of tomfoolery. He hadn't really thought of this at all, until their waitress had looked at the pair of them after asking for their orders and giggled, "My, looks like you two had a fun time around the town last night, didn't you?"

"No. No we didn't. We were at a funeral in the shittiest weather this city can provide and spent the entire night crying our eyes out. I'll have a Chicken and Waffles Special, and he'll have the Breakfast Lover's #2. Thank you!" However, Roxas had to admit that the redhead was the king at keeping a sunshine face combined with such a scathing voice. He, of course, was second.

The look of shock and horror upon the assuming girl's face was priceless, and truly deserved. She'd stuttered a choked apology and ran off with the menus in hand. Really, the people at local diners needed to mind their damn own business.

"…Well, that was lovely. Glad to know we still look like the couple of sexy bastards we truly are after a shitty night." Axel quipped, stirring an enormous amount of sugar into his coffee – really, he didn't need that much sugar.

"Hey," Roxas grabbed his hand and took the shaker away after putting some in his own mug, "calm down." The redhead frowned, and then stirred his coffee, looking more than slightly off-put.

"People in this town are obnoxious…damn high school brats." The blond rolled his eyes, taking a rather large gulp of the hot coffee before commenting.

"I think it's really the high school kids, not really anyone else. Maybe they're just a bit too happy for you right now? Hell, maybe I'm too happy for you right now, and I'm "Mr. Doom-and-Gloom" remember?" That got Axel thinking, and he took a deep breath before slinking down in the booth seat.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm an asshole when I want to be, I get it. I'll apologize to the nosy bitch after. It's just the ironic comment of us looking like we just got fucked when we really had such a shit night…" he groaned, rubbing his eyes. "Hm."

"Oh well, Xion would've been proud…probably mocking the shit out of us as a ghost right now – 'Why the hell are you looking like you've been fucked when I died, assholes? You can only have sex head when I'm there to hear the details!'" Roxas raised his eyebrows at that comment. Then he pictured it and burst out laughing.

The pair spent a few minutes chuckling over that image before returning to their coffee. "So. Wanna do me the favor of driving me back home once we're done eating? I bet my parents are still worried – god knows what Sora's saying – and I haven't even checked –" he groped in his pants pocket for his phone and slid it open.

[12] MISSED CALLS

[3] VOICEMAILS

He sighed, "See? I don't even want to listen to them!" Axel took a quick look at the screen before shrugging. "Hey, doesn't matter if they know you're safe in my arms, wrapped away from the scary world that is reality-" Roxas kicked him in the shin –"ow – asshole. They're going to want to psychoanalyze you for weeks and make sure you're all right in the head. It's what families do – they worry. That's why you got me, your best friend for forevurrrr to make sure you don't get smothered," another kick, "titchy little shit this morning, aren't you?"

The blond grinned then took another sip from the steaming mug in front of him. He wasn't exactly sure why, though. He hated his coffee black, in fact, it was usually him with the super sweet tooth, while Axel took over being a grumpy old man with only the smallest sprinklings of confectionary in his daily dose. Roxas made a note to Axel on that.

"Well, really. It's an off-day – the end of what seemed like the end for us, y'know?" Roxas frowned. "I guess…but I'm really not sure what to think about that when me, the kid who still though there was a monster in his closet only five years ago, has to console you, the asshole who thought dirt biking an ATV through the public park at three in the morning was a good idea in middle school."

Axel stirred his coffee with an amused smirk pulling on his face. "Roxas, Roxas, Roxas…the only monster that was hiding in that closet was the _enormous_ rainbow fest you kept locked up inside you."

Roxas groaned, eyes shut and praying to god that the waitress wasn't somewhere within the vicinity of hearing that.

She was. Yes, coming in hot with waffles and pancakes and whatever else the fuck he'd decided to eat in his half-asleep phase. And the annoying little bitch had heard it, because there was no way she'd be giving them questioning and then seemingly knowing looks like that after the bitching Axel had given her not twenty minutes ago. The redhead seemed to pick up on this and stabbed his waffle with a viciousness Roxas had not known he'd possessed and quickly shoved the piece into his mouth.

"Waf?" Roxas tried really, really hard not to grimace at the scene; Axel's mouth full and dripping with maple syrup was not appealing in the least bit. He played around with his hash and chewed on a piece of toast lightly. When he looked up and noticed that Axel was now semi-presentable and not looking like some starving hobo having a first meal, he relented.

"What was with that death and syrup stance going on there five minutes ago?"

"Because I somehow outed you to a high school who now's probably debating on whether or not she should poison your refill," he commented lightly. Once again, Roxas was nonplussed, what the fuck was this guy on about? "You're the one who legitimately dyed my hair a rainbow in my sleep when you found out, why the hell should you care?"

"Well, now she's going to do something that'll add to your shitty mood because of me, however misinformed the comment may have been."

Roxas chose to believe that Axel was still extremely tired and suffering from delusional thoughts for the rest of the meal, and continued in consuming his run-of-the-mill breakfast special. When the two finished the meal, they paid quickly ("The fuck I'm giving that bitch a tip" Axel snarked.) and left for Roxas' house in Axel's car.

The city streets were still somewhat flooded, water over flowing in certain corners with large puddles making up a majority of the back-roads. All the reflections throughout the street were unexpectedly nice – the blonde could barely believe the water was so clear after such a storm. Crossing the bridge once again, Roxas noticed there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and sun was shining. Directly into Axel's eyes.

"…This is why I hate mornings." He grumbled, flipping the dashboard and sitting up a little more in the seat to get a better view. Roxas shrugged, snuggling into his seat once again, feeling the drowsiness of being half-asleep trying to take him over. The last thing he remembered thinking was that Axel's hair was way too unruly and someone seriously needed to attack that thing with a comb.

Axel woke him up not thirty minutes later, having arrived in his family's driveway, and, not wanting to be intrusive, drove away with the promise to come back later in the day or tomorrow to steal some of his food. The bastard. Loveable, but a bastard.

Roxas reached the front door and mimicked getting a house key out of his shirt. Which, inevitably, didn't happen because he'd left the jacket at Axel's house. Fuck.

So he settled for calling his brother's phone.

" -ello?" The garbled voice on the other end of the line indicated that, yes, Roxas was an asshole that enjoyed waking up his siblings to join in his misery.

"Sora. I'm home, let me in the house."

"…" A click on the other end indicated that the brunette had hung up on him. Great. He seriously hoped that meant he'd be coming down to let him in – he wasn't going to wait outside the house looking like this for the next few hours. And, now that Xion was gone, sneaking into her house down the street in an attempt to hide from the world wasn't an option. The thought of that made his whole body hurt.

A bedraggled Sora opening the door wearing nothing but heart boxers made him laugh though. "You really are out of it, aren't you?" A tired blue eye looked at him from underneath messy bangs. "D'you want in the house, or not?"

Roxas strode inside the house past his brother and proceeded to kick off his dress shoes. Sora yawned. "Where's your suit jacket? We have to return them today."

"Axel's…" He trailed off guiltily. The brunette frowned, although the entire demeanor of disappointment ended there – he was just in his underwear after all. "…And the house key?"

"…In the suit jacket?"

Sora brought his hands over his face and groaned. "Roxas, what the hell was the point of him dropping you off if he didn't bring back the whole package?!"

"What?"

"We have to return the things by noon today, why did Axel have to go move with his grandmother?" He complained, running his hands through his hair tiredly.

"I dunno Sora, having your parents die in a horrific accident kinda leaves you with the nearest relative you've got," the blond sneered. The brunette froze, hand in his hair, and shook his head. "Shit, right…sorry, sorry…just wish the damn company down the street didn't have the 'next-day return or it's a $50 fee' policy'."

Roxas shrugged. "Fine. Whatever, I get charged fifty dollars, big deal…"

"It's going to end up on my card, Roxas."

"I'll pay you back! Fuck, Sora! I don't want to deal with this right now – goodbye!" He jumped up the stairs and flipped over the side railing into his room, shutting the door less-than-quietly behind him. He stayed there for a little over a half hour, staring at the ceiling, fuming and trying to sleep. When his mother opened the door to give him a hug and ask him if he wanted breakfast, he refused.

"I already went out to eat with Axel, mom." She nodded. "So what do you want to do today?"

"I dunno, Sora says I've got to go get my jacket back by noon otherwise it's a fifty dollar fine on his card…might go do that."

"Roxas, you can't go leaving expensive things like that around just anywhere…"she groaned.

"Mom! It's just in Axel's closet back at his house, okay?! Last night we just zoned out from the rest of the world when reality hit that she was gone and I forgot a fucking jacket! I'll get it back! It's not like it's someone's fucking life!" He snapped, getting up immediately and running back downstairs. Sora had miraculously found a way into pajama pants and was nearly mowed back downstairs when Roxas flew by him.

"Roxas! You shouldn't be driving if you're this emotional!" Ignoring both his mother and Sora's protests the blond shoved sneakers on, grabbed his car keys and drove out of the driveway back towards Twilight Town. He could see his father run out of the house and run down the street just a little ways. Roxas just growled, foot pressing down on the pedals and sped off, not even caring that he'd blasted through a STOP sign. There was no one there, no one was hurt, and really, he just wanted to get out of that area as fast as possible.

"Roxas!"

"What're you doing back here? Didn't I say I was going to sleep a little and then head back to your place later?"

Axel was now in pajamas and was holding the door open for Roxas like this was an every day occurrence. Well, it happened often enough that he'd just gotten used to being woken up at random hours of the day. He watched the blonde kick off the sneakers, and then noticed he was still in his dress shirt and pants.

"Seriously, Rox. What was the hurry?"

"Sora's an asshole and wanted the suit jacket we rented back by today at noon, my mom's an asshole and compared the importance of wasting fifty dollars, and possibly another couple hundred if we had to replace it, to losing a friend. Anything else, or are you on that bandwagon as well?" The anger flowed out of Roxas so quickly Axel wasn't really sure what to say to that.

"…"

"Well?" The redhead really hated when Roxas was like this, the kid was almost bipolar the way he flipped switches from sadness to anger. Well, not really a kid, Roxas was only a year younger than him but…you know.

He chose to sigh, grab his friend by the shoulders and lead him upstairs to the TV room. "Why don't you just pass out here for a few hours – we've got until noon, right? – I'll go fall asleep with an alarm set, and when we wake up, everything's going to be okay." That, and he really, really needed some more sleep. That breakfast energy must've just been out of habit because by the time he'd gotten back to his house he'd almost fallen asleep at the wheel.

Roxas looked at Axel, at the bed, and then back at him. His hands were still clenching sporadically. He let out a long breath; shoulders finally relaxing a bit. "Fine. Fine, Sora can deal with that."

"Cool. I'll grab you a pair of sweats to change into and then you shut the fuck up and let me sleep, okay?" He nodded. Axel went to retrieve the sweatpants, came back only to violently toss them at him through the doorway and then shut his bedroom door with a significant slam.

Roxas heard the 'click' of the door and knew that now he was on his own, and if he so much as tried to drag anything else down with him, Axel would rip his hair out. He'd already proven that in middle school, and Roxas still had the scarring on his head to prove it. So he changed and lay down on the bed, hand now moving over his scalp in search of the scars. Hmmm…ah! There they were. Right at the base of where his bangs joined the rest of his hair.

"_I can't believe you honestly thought we wouldn't care, you little shit!"_

"_But-but it's not your problem!"_

He'd been bullied after school for a few weeks on a count of…well, now he really couldn't find what the bullies thought was wrong with him. Maybe it was the fact that he'd been a scrawny little runt up until sophomore year. But, no. Axel and Xion had found out, and were extremely worried as to why their friend didn't take the bus home from school with Xion anymore.

With a scathing, "After school project my ass" Axel had grabbed Roxas by the bangs and pulled him back towards the bullies, fuming. Now, Axel had been just as scrawny as him, but the terrifying symbol of being a freshman in high school had its perks when dealing with eighth graders attacking a seventh grader. He'd towered over them, hand still holding Roxas' hair painfully and stated, "The only fucker who's allowed to beat the shit out of this kid is me, got it?" Seifer and Fuu hadn't messed with him since then.

And…Xion…she'd be a right little scout and kept quite close to him just to make sure. Ha, she'd even said she wasn't afraid of attacking Fuu if worst came to worst.

He smiled sadly and went to sleep, curled in the comforter that they'd used last night.

Opening his eyes, Roxas saw green eyes less than a half centimeter away from his and screamed at the top of his lungs.

"WHAT IN THE EVER LOVING FUCK?!" Bolting up, he smashed his face into Axel's – probably not one of his better ideas. "Shit – what the hell Roxas? That _hurt_!" Now he was on the other end of the bed, collapsed and clutching his nose and forehead in pain. Roxas himself was doing much the same, glaring at the redhead.

"Don't be a creep like that, then! Sheesh, how the hell have you not given your gran a heart attack with the way you are?" He rolled off the bed, landing gently on one knee while keeping his face buried in his hand. "Because I don't do shit like that to her? I save the special idiocies for you?" Axel muttered. The taller teen got up; wavering slightly and then was reminded of the earlier mission. Wake Roxas up to bring back the suit stuff.

"Anyway – it's about 11 right now – we should probably head over to the suit place and drop this stuff off," he said. Roxas scrunched up his face a bit, then made to follow Axel out to the hallway closet and get the ordeal over with. Halfway down the stairs he realized he was still wearing the white dress shirt, with Axel's sweats. Oh, he was classy all right.

"…Axel…can I borrow a shirt?" he ventured, hoping his voice carried far enough down the hallway so he wouldn't have to face Axel's grandmother. "What? What's wrong with – oh. Well that's a fashion statement right there, combing every form of hip hop artistry into one big catastrophic mess, are we?"

The blond flushed. "Whatever, I'm going to steal one of your shirts then," he muttered, turning around and walking into Axel's room. Which really wasn't much, now that he thought about it. Simple blue room decorated with various pictures and posters from concerts the three of them had gone to, average cleanliness despite doubts, and…there was the closet. He pulled the dress shirt up and off him and grabbed a random blank t-shirt, tossing it on.

And fuck; there was the smoke scent. "Axel! Stop fucking smoking, at this rate you're gonna die of lung cancer before we turn thirty!" He yelled, going down the stairs two at a time, hopping down to land at Axel's feet by the doorway.

"Stop being a ungrateful shit – you'd be in your boxers and your sneakers if I hadn't given you my clothes, opened the house to you and let you pass out on my bed," Axel joked as he waved off Roxas' comment. When Roxas caught up to him with the suit and hopped in the passenger seat he laughed. "Besides, you could've picked another shirt or kept your dressy one on. I'm not the one who forgot about turning in the suit today and is having his best friend drive him around."

Roxas groaned, glaring at the black sweats and his shoes as if all his troubles were their fault. "Whatever. My car's still here so we'll be coming back." While they drove around, Roxas remembered that Axel's car also smelled a lot like smoke. He inhaled a little too much and started coughing sporadically. Axel gave him a confused look. "Does it bother you that much? You've never had an issue- I mean, I've got the window down and everything."

He shook his head. "No, I was just – just realizing that it's honestly you. Suits you."

"So romantic, telling the guy whose house you spent the night at, that the aftersmell of a cancer stick that makes you choke to death reminds you of him. Really, Rox, no wonder you've been single so long." The blond punched him. "Hey! Hey! Driving here!"

"Then stop mocking me for my perpetual singularity."

Axel shrugged. "What?"

"Nothing…" he trailed off teasingly. "What?!" His narrowed gazed was full on, now. Axel smirked; oh he was an asshole all right.

They passed the halfway mark on the Twilight Town Bridge, the sun still shining and water glimmering, although just barely now that puddles had dried up in the afternoon heat.

"Just wondering how come you've never found someone you like." His eyes widened, and he shifted his gaze towards the front of the car now, still hunched down like some ghetto bitch neither of them wanted him to be.

"…It's always been you and Xion, Ax. Never had to really give much thought after the whole disaster in sixth grade with Naminé – which shall remain forever unspoken – and figuring out that I'm gay. You guys took up all my time, and I was – I am – happy with that." The other teen didn't seem to have anything to say to that, just took a turn onto the mainland and continued towards the suit rental store.

Fifteen minutes later Axel's Mazda pulled into the parking lot and Roxas hopped out quickly, muttering "Be right back" before hurriedly walking into the safety of store before anyone saw him looking like a hood rat. Watching the blonde awkwardly shuffle around in the too long pants made Axel chuckle. "Dumbass."

The blond was waiting in line holding the jacket with the little slip in his hand with about ten other customers when he saw his brother walk in along with his best friend, Riku. Roxas sighed, and then gave a little wave to catch his attention. The brunette saw him and immediately ran up to join him in line, smiling away the glares people gave him after he cut them.

"Hey! You made it on time – and you're not dead!"

"Who'd have thought, huh?" He pointedly looked away, tapping his Vans impatiently as the line moved at a snail's pace. Sora bit his lip, shooting him an apologetic look, "I'm sorry, alright? I was an ass earlier and I really shouldn't have said that, you didn't deserve that after yesterday." Roxas still didn't look him in the eye, choosing to stare blankly at Riku and wonder what the hell he was doing here, awake, with Sora.

They moved in line, now only five people away from returning this damn thing, and only about ten minutes away from getting some food – again! "Yeah, well, whatever. Next time think before you speak and just fucking tell me something like that in advance, alright?" Sora nodded, smile weakly coming out again. Then his eyebrow shot up and Roxas knew he was being given a "What-the-fuck" look.

"What _now_?"

The brunette seemed to study him before nodding. "I approve of the attempted ghetto look. Makes you look adorable rather than tough, though. Whose clothes are those?" Roxas drew a hand up from underneath the suit to hold his face in shame again.

"Urgh…what the hell is up with you people today…and they're Axel's. I wasn't thinking when I drove off and forgot spare clothes." Sora burst out laughing, drawing a look from some of the other customers and Riku. "Should've known" The blond frowned at his brother before walking up to the counter and depositing the suit.

"Name?" "Roxas Strife?" "One moment, sir." The old woman at the counter took the suit back, presumably dumping it into a washer before walking back and handing him a receipt. "Here you go – there's a discount coupon on the back – have a nice day. Next!"

Roxas flipped the receipt over for a second before walking out the door, waving goodbye to Sora and Riku on the way out. Now – food!

Axel was waiting there patiently in the car, music blasting along with the AC, when he saw Sora pull up into the parking lot and watched him and Riku enter the store. He watched with an amused look, immaturely thinking "We beat them here" before being stuck waiting alone again. He frowned. This was why they had been perfect as a trio – whenever one of them was out of the loop there was someone to fall back onto easily or two of them would attack the other – now it was just Roxas and Axel. No Xion.

Looking in the backseat and seeing how worn down the middle seat was compared to the other two made his chest hurt a little. It looked so bare…

"BOO!"

…And now he had to have a heart attack. He jolted in his seat, smashing his head against the headrest and curling up in defense. "What the fuck was that for, asshole?"

Roxas ran around the other side of the car and jumped in through the window. "Revenge for this morning. Now, off to get some food, slave!" Axel got up and started rubbing the back of his head. "What the hell got you so energized?" Roxas was practically shaking in his seat, thumbs drumming alongside the window.

"Just wanna get out of here and eat," he smiled, eyes bright and shining. The redhead thought, still not moving the car. "…And where would that be, oh master of the car that isn't his?"

Roxas shrugged. "I dunno, can we just get out of here before Sora comes attacking me again?"

"Aw, did mean ol' big brother call you a hood rat?"

"Yes, yes he did. Now drive us out of here before he decides to get Riku in on it." Axel started the car, and they drove out of the parking lot in search of some place to eat. Which, on this side of the city, wasn't much. "I saw that, how the hell did Sora get him up before noon?"

"How the hell does Sora get Riku to do anything, really? I don't know, always been a mystery to me." After a few minutes Axel managed to find a random Chinese place for them to chow down in, and they went inside, Roxas hopping along awkwardly.

"You look like such a little kid in those pants."

"I wasn't aware that we were going to do this when we left. Sorry if _someone's _tastes don't suit me. I thought I could fight off my stomach for another hour when we left for the rental store."

Axel looked over at the clock on the restaurant wall. "…it's been an hour, and hey! Those are the comfiest pajama pants I've ever had! Not my fault you didn't look at what shirt you grabbed." Roxas rolled his eyes, and they sat down at a booth near the entrance and ordered drinks before looking over the menu.

The menu was incredibly generic, and Roxas ended up ordering nothing but oil-soaked appetizers while Axel went for chow mein. "I don't know how you can eat nothing but dumplings and shit like that, it's fatty as all hell!"

"This is why you're the skinny tall one, and I'm the short and average one, dear," Roxas mocked, patting the redhead's hand. Axel took a look at their hands and smirked.

"So, _dear_," he overemphasized, grabbing Roxas' hand, "do tell me what you're going to do now that it's just the two of us. Certainly you getting a little action from _some_ poor man out there will get you to open up?"

Roxas smacked his hand away and wrinkled his nose. "You're disgusting, you know that?"

Axel laughed, "What? I can't harass you about your nonexistent love life the way you harassed me through high school with mine?"

"You mean the fact that your little swim team fan girls would stalk you and spread their legs like butter just to talk to you?"

Axel snorted. "It wasn't that bad." "Says the one that hooked up with…twelve girls in one year? Yeah, yeah I think it was twelve."

The waiter serving their drinks silence the conversation a bit, but it did nothing to stop the large smirks from spreading across both their faces in addition to a glare from Axel. "It was not that many."

"It was. They all asked me first if you were single, man."

Axel looked up from his drink. "What?" Roxas started counting on his fingers before nodding. "Yeah, twelve girls all came up to me at some point or another during my sophomore year and asked if the three of us were a 'thing' or if it was okay for them to date you."

The soda flew out over Axel's mouth before he could stop it. "They- they _what_? Are you serious?"

Roxas grimaced at the sudden combination of saliva and soda all over his table, then nodded. "Yeah. Guess it was some thing going around the school. People thought it was weird that a senior was hanging out with two sophomores so much. They thought we were, like, doing threesomes or something. Our school was a bunch of repressed sex freaks, I tell you."

"Hmm." He let that though mull over in his mind for a few minutes – really? People thought that the three of them, who had grown up together since he was six, were together – in _that way_? Gross. He could totally understand that speculation about Sora, Riku and Kairi – the three of them were one of the worst love triangles the world had ever seen – but them?

Thinking back two years ago to his senior year, he remembered how odd it was that none of the girls he hooked up with would go to prom with him. Larxene, Anne, Yuuna, no, no, no…So he hadn't gone since no one under 16 was allowed and spent the night partying with the two of them. Even this year, when Roxas had asked Xion if she wanted to go she'd said no way and volunteered to drive out to Hallow Bastion for two nights just so they hang out with him at school. Wow. They were together a lot.

"Axel? Your order's in front of your face." What? Oh, chow mein had magically appeared on the table in front of him, excellent. "Sweet!" He and Roxas spent the rest of the time enjoying the MSG filled goodness with little to no issues outside of food hogging.

"Bitch! Give me that back!" Ha ha, dumpling caught nicely between his chopsticks, Axel took a disturbing amount of time to chew and swallow it all the while making obscene noises. "Hmf. Sooo good, heart attack in a bun…delicious!" Roxas pinched him with his chopsticks.

"Hey!" Another pinch. "Stop that you little brat!" This time one landed in his food and stole his chicken. "Thieving little –" and an all-out chopstick fight began, resulting in the two of them being asked to calm down or they'd have to take their food and leave.

"Sorry! Sorry! _Look what you did, Axel_," Roxas growled. Axel looked around – there were maybe three other people in the small eatery, all of whom were looking at them with concerned faces. "What? It's not like it's a big crowd, seriously- Hey! Yeah, you – mind your own business and eat your food."

"_Axel_," Roxas hissed, to which Axel shrugged. "Fine. It's your fault."

"Why is it my fault? You stole my food." The blond questioned, eating his noodles as fast as humanly possible.

"Because a) it's your fault we had to drive everywhere today, b) you're dressed like a hood rat and look like you'd like to kill someone right now and c) I just wanted a dumpling, didn't have to pull out the claws!" The redhead complained, poking his leftovers around with a bored face.

Roxas didn't have an answer to that and finished his food silently. The pair paid for their food, leaving a somewhat shitty tip because _someone_ forgot his wallet, ("I'M SORRY! OKAY? Be glad I have cash!") And left for Axel's house again.

"God, no wonder people thought we were together, you and I bitch at each other twenty four seven and then Xion would be running all over the place trying to get us to make up."

Axel nodded, drumming his fingers at the wheel while waiting for a red light to change. "Hey, we make up just fine without anyone else – not that the overwhelming threats of "Nooooo guys you gotta stop fighting otherwise I'm not going neither of you are going to have my love or attention" weren't heard loud and clear."

"Well here's to changing that, right?" Roxas' hand was now twirling the bangs that just wouldn't stay flat against his head, "Hmm…yeah. It's going to be the two of us at school now. Still can't believe you chose that over Oblivion Tech – I could understand Xion because of her English interest but you want to major in engineering."

The blond shrugged. "You know. Why pick a place that's across the country when I get a better scholarship, the program's fine, and get to stay with you only three hour's drive away from here?" Really, what other reason was there? He wasn't one to wander the world, and really liked the university he'd visit every other week as opposed to the institute he'd only visited once.

"Yeah…so what about when you head over to HBU? You find out any else about your roommate and the like?"

"I don't get that stuff until July, at least. You go a week after me, right? Orientation and all that stuff?" The streets of Twilight Town were already starting to hue with the changing setting of the sun; giving the town it's namesake appearance. The tall buildings that surrounded the entirety of the area didn't help change that condition. Axel was driving underneath the train rails now, taking a quick turn up towards his grandmother's street. Roxas could remember the countless trips they'd taken to nearby villages and towns on vacations with their families or by themselves when they were older. When they drove down past the clock tower Roxas could remember the first time the three of them had watched the sun set together – ages 14, 12 and 12 – all of them had been out way longer than allowed and got the worst punishments they'd ever experienced as teens for it. The memory hurt, but it also made him happy.

"Oh, should've remembered that, which reminds me I have to call Demyx…hm. Anyway, I could always go with you and just stay with Demyx; he does live in Hallow Bastion."

Roxas thought back to the spunky, awkward musician that Axel had for a roommate. He was a fun guy, if not a little too eccentric for his tastes. He frowned; what the hell was he thinking, he was best friends with _Axel_, how the hell was someone too eccentric? "That'd be cool, hey we could even make a stop at that place that sells the blocks of sea salt ice cream! Fuck yes!"

The energy was back, and Axel grinned at Roxas. "You're such a little fatass, you know that? You just ate some of the least healthy food on the planet and you're thinking of ice cream already?" He shoved at Roxas as they pulled into his driveway, unbuckling quickly and bolting out before Roxas could recover.

"Hey!" Roxas raced after him up the stairs to the entrance, and he could hear Mrs. Sinclaire yell from kitchen, "Axel! Roxas! Quit running around the house you're grown men now!", through the open door and up into the TV room once again.

Axel was pressed up against the furthest wall, panting and grinning like a maniac. "I…am not…a fatass," panted Roxas, glaring. "You're winded from running up the stairs."

"So are you, skinny ass!" Axel chuckled, sliding down the wall and landing in a tangle of limbs splayed out before him. "That's because I'm not one for the athletics, and I smoke."

"Stop smoking then. Then you'll be up to par with the rest of the world in averageness." Roxas strode over to where his friend was and plopped down on the couch beside him. This was a running thing in the past few days, this couch and him. "But…they're my nerve buddies."

"Your what?"

"My nerve buddies. You know, for at school or whenever you or…whenever you guys weren't there to calm me down about some school or shit thing I'd hit up a pack. I'm surprised I didn't start when I was sixteen, really." Oh, yeah. The other deaths they'd had to survive through. Well, mostly Axel since he'd barely said anything to the other two despite the constant nagging and irritating concerns.

"Well you saved yourself another ten healthy years by waiting. Quit while you can now, and I'm pretty sure your heart attack chance drops within an hour or whatever statistic those Anti-Smoke campaign ads say."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll get around to it." Axel got up and plopped next to Roxas in his usual spot, his shape almost sinking in with the wear. He was staring up at the ceiling with that thoughtful look of his again. "Wanna go up to the tower?"

He had to think about that one, really. That was the one hangout the three of them had that Axel and Roxas hadn't visited, specifically because they both felt it was "their" spot, not just the two of them. Staring at the lining clumps of sweats around the edges of his Vans seemed like a good idea – Axel had the ceiling, he had the ground (there was a height joke in there somewhere, he just didn't want to think about it). "Rox? Hey, I know we never said anything but I…I don't want to avoid it. Feels like it'd be that time you avoided Xion for over a week because you saw her in the shower by mistake. Just being an asshole because you can't see past the past, you know?"

Roxas scuffed Axel's foot in response.

"You're a dick for reminding me of that – anyone else would've been the same – and yeah. Yeah sure, let's go." Axel nodded, smile peeking out from the edge of his lips, and dragged Roxas up to go walk out. "Alright!"

The sun was still setting somehow, even though it had started only around two when they had been leaving for Axel's again and now it was just before four. Axel and Roxas took the usual path behind the hole in the barbed fence leading to the back entrance, squeezing in and hissing only slightly when caught on the wire. "Fuck! Axel, your damn pants are too long!" The redhead spent a few seconds laughing at Roxas shaking his foot about in the wire before coming over and pulling it out of the sneaker.

"Simple as that," he twittered.

Roxas grumbled and stood up quickly, making towards the back stairway into the building, Axel loping along casually behind him. Though the clock tower's exterior was extravagant and considered the only monument Twilight Town had, the interior left much to be desired; a maze of boxes and various stepladders adorned with splashes of paint and abandoned mural attempts lay about in various layers of dust. When Roxas froze upon entering, Axel bumped into him.

"What? Aren't you going to go up?"

"Look," he whispered, pointing. Axel leaned over Roxas, staring at the ground. Their footprints in the dust were pretty much the only thing that showed life in the building, maintenance had left the place for good; from sunlight shining through the windows, Axel could see them, pitter-pattering in little races or scuffles across the wooden floor leading up to the spiral staircase. He bit his lip, nodded, grateful for once that they had decided when they were young not to do anything inside otherwise it'd be considered vandalism. He wasn't sure Roxas or him could take it if they had seen anything Xion had done.

"Well, signs that this place was well lived in, and still will be! Don't worry about it," he consoled, pushing Roxas forward, just a little, "when we get up there this slightly creepy area will be gone and it'll be you and me, back in the place where we belong on a summer night."

"…yeah. Missing someone, but…hmm." Roxas didn't object or comment any more, just walked up the staircase, sliding his hands along the dusty railing leading up to the small room that lead outside to the tower's ledge. Axel was only a step behind him, musing once again that he'd been the only one tall enough to have to duck underneath the oncoming stairs, laughing lightly and listening to the echoes. Roxas paused at the end, standing still, listening as well before letting out his own, "Hello!"

"Hello!" "_Hello!" _"hello!" "hello" "…hello." "…"

Both of their heads were angled towards the first floor, waiting for it to stop before walking into the room.

"That never gets old, huh?" Roxas shook his head.

"No. Although we can't make it sound as _entertaining_ as we did last week, now can we?" He turned; face pulling off what he had hoped was seductively innocent. Two weeks ago, when they'd probably been drinking more than they should have, Xion had suggested that they try to make it sound like an orgy was going on in the building. Drunk as fuck, the three of them had made mocking sex noises for a good twenty minutes, laughing their asses off and nearly falling down the stairs listening to it.

Axel burst out laughing, once again filling the quiet building with raucous laughter. "…Oh my god…what the hell Roxas. Not cool."

"Hey, Xion's the one who thought an orgy should be heard in this place."

"She was drunk as fuck!"

"Indeed." Axel snorted, opening the door to the ledge and letting Roxas through before putting the doorstopper in. "We're perverted when we're drunk."

"More like idiotic, but yeah, that too."

"…Ahhhh, what a view. Knew this would kick that funk we were in," the redhead sighed, crouching down before carefully balancing and letting his legs hang over the edge. Roxas sat down next to him, holding the decorative wall behind him before copying the elder. "Yeah, it really does; no matter what time we come here it's always perfect." The sun was still in its slow dissention to the earth, hovering over the taller buildings of the town and highlighting the ocean over the bridge a wonderful mix of red, orange and pink.

Axel leaned back, pulling Roxas with him a little bit to rest on the decorations jutting out from the side of the tower. He started at first, but relaxed into the movement and slid in comfortably between the two slabs. Then the bright green eyes he knew all too well changed into a familiar look – oh great. He threw his arm around Roxas, pulling him close and waving his hand out dramatically, his face split into the "all-knowing" grin, eyes glittering with excitement.

"Oh boy. Here it comes…" the blonde chuckled, rolling his eyes. He should've been expecting this.

"Betcha don't know why the sun sets red, d'ya Rox?" Every time either Roxas or Xion had been feeling shitty, Axel had come up with this cheesy way to make either of them feel better. Whether throughout the years it actually made them feel better or just became a point of comfort, Roxas didn't really care.

"No, Axel, I don't. Do tell," he mused. Axel's hand mussed its way into the blonde's hair, gripping it lightly before ruffling it and leaning in close.

"Because, even though you only see a few colors, light's made up of every combination of them; and out of all the colors in the world, red is the one that traveled the farthest. Don't forget that, because," he sighed, "_I'm,"_ a quick little shake of the head threw Axel's long bangs into Roxas' face, tickling him, "going to be the one that's going to get you back from whatever darkness you're feeling – no matter what. You got that?"

The blond opened his eyes once Axel's hair stopped moving, and felt a small drop of water hit the bridge of his nose. Green ones stared back into his, slightly watery, but determined. Roxas smiled, tugging on the hair in front of him lightly before letting it slip around his fingers. "Yeah, yeah I do." He shifted a bit, throwing his own arm around Axel before turning back to the sunset in front of him.

"It's going to be okay, isn't it, Axel?"

"Yeah. It's going to be okay."


End file.
